All his life, from the time he’d starting playing, he had prided himself on being a team player. But now he was the team. He was like Ryan in tennis, out there alone, nobody to whom he could pass the ball.

He knew how many people were watching. The sound of the crowd today had been louder than anything they’d heard all season. But nothing had changed, not really. He was alone at the line. Him. Ball. Basket.

He went through his routine. Took a deep breath. Visualized the ball going through the basket.

He made the first.

Game tied.

He went through his routine again, telling himself not to rush. Took one more deep breath.

Lucas made the second.

The Wolves were ahead by a point.

Fifteen seconds left in the big game.

The Jazz coach didn’t call for a time-out, either. He let his players play, in the biggest moment of their season. There was no need for him to draw up a play, anyway. Everybody in the gym knew where the ball was going.

Corey Tanner.

He dribbled to the right. Lucas shadowed him.

Eight seconds.

Just the two of them on that side of the court as Corey started backing in.

It was here that Gramps did something he hadn’t done one time all season.

He yelled at them.

Top of his voice.

“Now!”

Ryan came running, long arms in the air, just as Corey turned back around on Lucas and went into his shot.

Only it wasn’t just Lucas on him.

Ryan was there, too, using his own long arms, making the clean block on Corey that Corey hadn’t made on Lucas at the other end.

The ball didn’t get close to the basket. It ended up in Billy’s hands instead, as the horn sounded with the Wolves still ahead by a point.

THIRTY-SEVEN

The Wolves cheered for themselves as loud as they ever had.

They were all together in a raucous scrum near the spot where Ryan had blocked Corey’s shot, jumping up and down, some of them hugging each other, some of them pounding each other on the back, some of them just throwing their heads back and yelling to the top of the gym.

When Lucas finally broke away from the celebration, he walked over to where Gramps had been quietly watching them from in front of their bench, the Santa Claus smile finally back on his face, as if this were the Christmas he had missed this year.

“Like I told you,” Gramps said to Lucas. “Everybody needs a helping hand sometimes.”

A few minutes later, after it was announced by Mr. Dichard that Lucas and Ryan had been named co-MVPs of the championship game, they were standing on either side of Gramps at mid court, and Gramps said, “Little help here,” one last time.

Then the three of them held up the championship trophy together.